Link Sar: First-ever ascent of West Summit by Jonathan Griffith, Andy Houseman

Islamabad
After four years of attempts, Alpinist and photographer Jon Griffith and partner Andy Houseman, both from Great Britain, finally reached the western summit of the Link Sar in Pakistan during a seven-day climb. It was Griffith’s fourth year of attempts on Link Sar and Houseman’s second.
Jonathan Griffith and Andy Houseman return to their countries from Pakistan quite happy, content and with a feeling of success. Although, they couldn’t make it to the main summit, Griffith and Andy are first ones to reach the Link Sar West Summit (6,938m). Link Sar is a 7,041m unclimbed peak in rarely visited Charakusa Valley of Pakistan. The valley is considered “an Alpine-climbing candy-store” with many unclimbed peaks, sub-peaks and mountain faces.
The mountaineers didn’t follow the ridge from West to the Main summit because of various reasons like illness, lack of food, deteriorating weather and potential danger. The duo climbed Northwest Face of the mountain in five days, and spent another day coming down. The route of ascent majorly followed the line of Griffith and Kevin Mahoney’s attempt in 2014. This was revealed by Alpine Club of Pakistan Press Secretary Karrar Haidri.
President of Alpine Club of Pakistan Lieutenant Colonel (r) Manzoor Hussain has congratulated the duo mountaineers on their climb of Link Sar mountain. "Pakistan is blessed with magnificent, lofty and compelling mountains offering great opportunities for mountaineering, trekking and other adventure activities," he said.
According to the details provided by the Alpine Club of Pakistan, these mountaineers after reaching Base Camp and due acclimatisation, launched the summit push from the Base Camp on the night of July 12. On day-1, they climbed to first bivouac site at 6,100m. July 14 was spent in bivouac resting, recovering and allowing the mountain face to release fresh snow. On 15th, they climbed for 17 hours to reach the top of the face. Unfortunately, Griffith was suffering from fever that evening and they decided to settle in second bivouac at 6,800m.
July 16 was again a recovery day. On 17th, they crossed the ridge to reach the West Summit (6,938m) at around 1200hrs -- approximately one kilometre away from the Main Summit. The ridge connecting West with Main Summit was extremely corniced and the team decided not to attempt it.
However, the warmth of mid-day and Griffith’s fever delayed their descent till 3am the next day. They bivouacked on the West Summit. On July 18, they retreated to the Base Camp via a couloir running down South Face.
According to the Alpine Club of Pakistan press secretary, Griffith regretted that they did not head to the Main Summit, because they had run out of food and weather window. They came off the mountain just as the bad weather rolled in, and it's really not a mountain you want to come down in bad weather.
It was Jon Griffith’s fourth attempt on the mountain while Andy’s second. In 2014, Kevin Mahoney and Jon Griffith were forced to retreat 300m below summit due to bad weather and dangerous conditions. They were half a kilometre away from the West Summit then.
In 2013, rain and bad weather affected Jon Griffith and Andy Houseman’s acclimatisation, whereas final summit bid was cancelled due to Andy’s illness. Jon Griffith first visited Charakusa Valley in 2012. Together with Will Sim, he explored the mountains and attempted Link Sar without making significant progress due to dangerous amount of unconsolidated snow.
Andy has loved climbing since his teens, when he started exploring his strengths on the grit-stone outcrops of his native Yorkshire (UK). His talents and experience developed during his university years and he thrived on the opportunities to explore the incredible climbing possibilities throughout the UK. However, it was after a trip to Chamonix that Andy discovered his true passion was to be in the mountains. He has since lived in France and Canada, and travelled world-wide to climb and ski, always seeking the challenge of a mountain adventure.
Based in Chamonix, France, Jonathan Griffith has climbed the world over and established himself as one of the world’s leading mountain sports photographers. A highly accomplished Alpinist himself, Jonathan continues to push himself to shoot what has never been shot before. This approach has taken his climbing to a level that sees him regularly tie in with climbers such as Ueli Steck and embarking on cutting edge ascents to visually document expeditions in the Alps, Patagonia, Alaska and the Himalayas. It’s a method that puts authentic climbing at its heart: an increasingly rare but refreshing approach to adventure photography in a climate where style is valued more than substance.